The present invention relates to a folding, straight-line, work piece guide for a band saw which enables a craftsman to safely and efficiently rip, taper, bevel and reduce the thickness of multiple elongate pieces of standard hardwood stock.
Rough-cut, hardwood stock is typically only supplied in xc2xc inch nominal thickness increments called xe2x80x9cquartersxe2x80x9d. The smallest common thickness for hardwood stock is 4 quarter or 1 inch nominal while the largest common thickness is 16 quarter or 4 inches nominal. Often, hardwood stock having a nominal thickness less than 1 inch is required for a particular woodworking component. For example, furniture drawer sides are typically xc2xd-xc2xe inches in thickness while the drawer bottom is typically about xc2xd inch thick.
To make components having a thickness less than 1 inch, it is necessary to reduce the thickness of 1 inch thick hardwood stock. The most common thickness reduction method known in the prior art is to mill away 1 inch hard-wood stock using a jointer until the hardwood stock is reduced to the desired nominal thickness. This prior art method is extremely hazardous due to the inherent hazards of working with a jointer which is known to be the most dangerous piece of woodworking machinery in any woodworking shop. The jointer is so dangerous that jointers over about 12 inches in width have been outlawed in many apprentice workshops.
The prior art method of milling away 1 inch hardwood stock is also inefficient for several reasons. Large amounts of costly hardwood are wasted by reducing the thickness of standard hardwood stock. For example, when making xc2xd inch drawer sides, about xc2xd of the 1 inch hardwood stock is milled away and discarded. Further, the manpower and machinery (including cutters) greatly increases the overhead of the project. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a method of reducing the thickness of standard hardwood stock in a safe and efficient manner.
The band saw is a very efficient and economical piece of woodworking machinery common to most woodworking shops. For example, the horse power requirement of a band saw is less than xc2xd of the horse power requirement of a circular saw. Additionally, the kerf on a typical circular saw blade is xe2x85x9 to {fraction (3/16)} inches while the kerf of the blade on a typical band saw is only {fraction (1/32)} to {fraction (1/16)} inches.
A band saw is also a very safe piece of machinery compared to other cutting machinery. For example the most common cause of accidental injury in the woodworking shop is xe2x80x9ckick backxe2x80x9d of the workpiece. While xe2x80x9ckick backxe2x80x9d is inherent in all machinery having a rotating cutter (blades or cutter heads), a band saw does not xe2x80x9ckick backxe2x80x9d the workpiece. While the band saw is recognized as a safe and economical tool, it is infrequently used by most craftsmen. Therefore, it would also be desirable to adapt the band saw to be a more versatile tool and make more effective use of the band saw in everyday woodworking operations.
Before mill-seasoned hardwood stock can be used to make furniture, cabinets, bookshelves, or other fine objects, any cup, warp, twist, or wane in the mill-seasoned stock must be removed. A craftsman must first straighten one edge surface and one face surface before subsequently ripping, cross-cutting, planing or otherwise reducing the hardwood stock to exact dimensions.
Initially, one face surface of the stock is straightened using the jointer. It is usually necessary to make multiple passes on the jointer in order to eliminate face surface defects and reduce the thickness of the board to the desired dimension. If the stock is over about 6 feet in length, a craftsman is needed at both the infeed end and outfeed end to safely handle the stock. Additionally, as described above, the jointer is extremely dangerous to even a well-experienced craftsman. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a safe and efficient woodworking tool which efficiently and safely straightens the face surfaces of hardwood stock so that the wood jointer can be returned to its original intended use as a fine-finish cutting, glue joint, and saw mark removal machine.
After the face surfaces of the stock are straightened, the edge surfaces are straightened using a table saw. To straighten the lengthwise-extending edges, a craftsman slides the work piece along a stationary fence past the circulating blade. During ripping, long pieces of stock tend to veer off the outfeed end of the fence, thereby causing a non-parallel cut. Further, feeding each piece of hardwood stock individually is time consuming. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a tool which simultaneously rips multiple elongate pieces of stock and prevents veering from a continuous straight path past the blade.
For most woodworking hobbyists, work space in the shop is not prevalent. Even in commercial work shops, multiple pieces of machinery crowd the shop and may create an unsafe work environment. Prior art machinery used for ripping elongate boards have permanent, elongate guide assemblies, typically 8-10 feet long, at both the infeed and outfeed of the saw. When not in use, such guides unnecessarily occupy a large amount of the available work space in the shop. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a workpiece guide assembly which is foldable when not in use to free-up additional workspace for other woodworking operations.
The present invention provides a folding, straight-line, work piece guide for a band saw having a base, a saw blade extending vertically through the base, and a feed path relative to the saw blade. The work piece guide enables a craftsman to safely and efficiently rip, taper, bevel and reduce the thickness of multiple pieces of standard hardwood stock using the band saw. The work piece guide also provides a safe and efficient method of straightening the face and edge surfaces of hardwood stock without the use of the jointer. The work piece guide is foldable when not in use to free-up additional workspace for other woodworking operations.
The folding, straight-line, work piece guide generally comprises an elongate table which can be collapsed into a folded configuration or set up and locked into a working configuration, and a carriage constructed and arranged to support multiple, elongate work pieces and to slide on the track along the feed path of the saw.
The elongate table is made of multiple chassis sections pivotally-connected to one another which form a continuous but foldable table having a lengthwise axis. The chassis sections have a top side and a bottom side. The table has an infeed end portion and an outfeed end portion. A central base portion is constructed and arranged to be securely fastened to the base of the saw. The central portion connects the elongate table parallel to the feed path of the saw.
Each of the infeed end portion and outfeed end portion is also made of multiple hinged chassis sections which can be set up and locked into a working configuration or can be folded into a generally-flat configuration. One end of both the infeed and outfeed end portion is pivotally connected to the central base portion. The end portions suspend from the central base portion when the end portions are folded and locked into a flat configuration.
Adjustable legs support the table. The legs comprise a pair of telescoping leg members which can be rough adjusted and locked in a plurality of heightwise positions. One of the leg members is hinged to a chassis section, and the other leg member has an adjustable foot which can be finely adjusted and locked in a plurality of heightwise positions. The legs are foldable coplanar with the chassis section to which the leg is attached.
A guide track section is mounted on the top side of each chassis section. The guide track sections form a continuous guide track for guiding the carriage along the table when the table is in the working configuration. The guide tracks are adjustable slightly skew to the lengthwise axis of the elongate table so that the guide track is parallel to the xe2x80x9cleadxe2x80x9d of the saw blade.
At least two adjacent chassis sections are pivotally connected to one another by a top side elevator hinge. Each of the guide track sections are linearly aligned when the table is set up in the working configuration, and at least one of the guide track segments becomes linearly offset from an adjacent guide track section when the table is collapsed into the folded configuration.
Each of the chassis segments also includes a flat track segment opposed to the guide track segments. The flat track segments form a continuous flat race aligned parallel to the guide track when the elongate table is set up in the working configuration.
The carriage includes a carriage frame which has means for guiding the carriage along the track at a fixed widthwise distance from the vertically-extending saw blade. A work piece support assembly is constructed and arranged to releasably mount multiple stacked work pieces on the carriage frame and to adjustably position the work pieces at a plurality of widthwise distances relative to the vertically-extending saw blade. The work piece support assembly includes means for releasably mounting the work pieces on the carriage; means for adjusting the widthwise distance of the work pieces from the vertically-extending saw blade; and, means for aligning the lengthwise-extending edges of the work pieces parallel to the feed path of the saw.
The work piece support assembly may also includes means for changing the angular orientation of the work piece relative to the saw blade. The support assembly preferably includes means for changing the roll angle or the yaw angle of the work pieces for cutting beveled edges on the work piece or making tapered cuts.
In one embodiment, the work piece support assembly includes a plurality of linearly-aligned block towers and an elongate fence fixed to and extending intermediate the towers. The block towers have a horizontally-extending base member, a vertically-extending support member pivotally connected to the base member, and an adjustable arm supporting the support member at a range of angles relative to the base member.
Each of the support members has a gripping dog assembly adjustably mounted on the support member. Each of the base members including a guide slot which cooperates with a guide pin on the carriage frame. The guide pins and dogs having quick-release fasteners.
The adjustment means and the alignment means preferably comprises a pair of parallel rack and pinion assemblies. The pinions are mounted on a common axle supported by the assembly. The racks are formed in the carriage frame and are calibrated to be at the same widthwise distance. Preferably a socket is formed in the axle end so that the axle can be adjusted/rotated using a socket wrench.